I Hydrolocked my connie

[Lodogg2221]

Hook up a tube to all the drains, and flush it. 
Might just get the crud keeping the float open to flush through and out the drain.

If you have a friend with a garage, you probably could do it yourself, but I thought so too, and it worked ok for me, but I should have sent them to Steve anyway, since he had them a week or so later because I was having other issues.

Ill say this, for those wanting to do the overflows themselves, AFTER I did mine, I found a MUCH better solution (it seems) than the JB Weld everyone was using, and better than the stuff I used (KBS coating) which seems ok, but not sure how long it will last.
Loc-Tite 660 Press Fit repair.  From their literature:
LOCTITE® 660 is designed for the bonding of cylindrical fitting
parts, particularly where bond gaps can approach 0.50 mm
(0.02 in.).

From what I found, their testing resulted in no degradation of strength from inital to 1000hrs in:
Motor Oil
Unleaded Gasoline
Brake Fluid
Water/Glycol 50/50
Ethanol
Acetone

Thats fairly impressive, and should I ever have an issue, Ill be using that to reinstall the tubes. I dont feel real comfortable long term with my solution, but it will probably be fine. 

FWIW, if you use a drill press, the correct size bit, and the correct size tube, it will be a very close fit anyway, but hand drilling can make matter much worse than this stuff can fix.

[Jet86]

yeah I'm gonna drain all 4 bowls and flush them tomorrow, today i changed the oil and filter - pulled the tank - plugs and did the Hydro Test, 2-3 was Even Stevens, 1-4 my eyes could be playing tricks on me but #4 was just a hair low, i measured them all multiple times but on 1-4 #4 kept coming up just a hair short, i don't know how a shop would do this but they might even have a hard time finding the true measurement. I have no other data to go on so it could have been like this for years for all i know, if my eyes wasn't playing tricks on me its so small of a hair i don't think its gonna hurt anything. i went for a 25 mile ride and it runs great, but still after she warms up then i try to start her after 15min she cranks for a bit then backfires and vroom ready to go, im guessing the float is still stuck and the heat expands the gas in carbs and maybe a drop or two gets into the cylinder? i don't know i'm guessing here. no backfires in the morning just your average cold blooded connie.

[Lodogg2221]

You know, mine was like that too.  #4 looked like it was shorter than #1.  Not much at all, but it was there.  I wonder if the valve cover wasnt quite level, as a compression test showed VERY little variation between all cylinders. 
Mines not been hydrolocked, at least not by me anyway, and usually its #1 that takes the hit because of the sidestand, which is how mine sat most of its life according to the PO.

[MAN OF BLUES]

You can do this work yourself. Read up on MOB's carbbie article and do not take short cuts. Do install overflow tubes. Do NOT us K/L carb kits, there are issues with them, something like a float or float clip issue, and the needles are suspect, IIRC. Plus, it's K/L. (I'm assuming the ebay kits are K/L)

The issue that comes up is iff'n you're not a carb magician, identifying what's normal or what's not. Again, refer to MOB's write up. See if you're up for it.

Good Luck, signed, a happy customer.

Disclaimer: I know SiSF.

I have no problem with the K&L carb kits, used a bunch of them, Steve has issues with the float needle clip spring, but I addressed this and we both agree if you "tweak it" to insure it isn't too tight on the float tang, it's fine...he prefers not to use that clip, and to each his own.
 

mdr,
you fogot to add something into all the facts and calculations you noted.....
expansion rate of gasoline, contained in a sealed (the pressure relief is not set to atmospheric pressure...it's higher by far) and the temperature at the time the tank is subject to....you may be surprised to see 5 psi on that fuel line, on a hot day, after turning the bike off after a moderate ride.
I see Bubba is coming around to my thinking on the seating pressures and such....thank you Steve, we have to believe with all the leaks we see, it is relevent.

[KBing]

I have owned my Connie since 1999 and have never until now heard of hydrolock. Reading all I can find about it I still don't see one thing: Will the bike run after a hydrolock event? I ask because I made the mistake of turning my petcock to prime and with gas in the oilpan it didn't run. Once I changed the oil it fired up and ran, but poorly at first. If the issue is hydrolock, will it run? Thanks to anyone who can give me a definite answer.

[kkja13]

Yes, it will probably run. 
The piston height will have changed for one or more of the cylinders causing a loss in performance. 

The bigger question is for how long it will run?  The hydrolock event bent the rod which could be minor and it may run for many years, or it may have stressed the material such that it may fail at a later date.

You need to measure your piston heights per SISF's video on YouTube and see how bad the situation is.

[m in sc]

thats assuming it actually bent. that's not always the case but.... def do a piston height check.

the 1st experience i ever had with working on a C10 was my ex father in law hydrolocked his after a faulty petcock (back in.. 05 or 06 i think). we replaced the petcock, put in an inline cutoff, and checked piston height and it was fine for years afterwards till he sold it.  But, if it were mine and the rod was bent it would be repair or sell off time. .02

My advice would be after the height check:  do an oil change again. check airbox isn't flooded with fuel.  then restart.
 


 

[connie_rider]

Yupp...   

Ride safe, Ted

[kkja13]

Good point.  I was all doom and gloom.

I should have mentioned that a lot of times the dreaded event, is a non-event, in that the rods are not bent, and all is good in the world.

Also consider ordering a new petcock if you haven't ever replaced it.  They have been known to fail, and are fairly easy to replace.

[dvitous]

I had a questionable situation where I should have been more careful to suspect hydrolock than I was.  Petcock failed.  Had gas back up thru the airbox on the side stand.  Floats held tho, it seems.  I shouldn't have started it - fire hazard at least, but I was away from home.  No ill effects, but always wondered.  Did a cylinder-height check last spring when I had it all apart, and it looks good.

[connie_rider]

Gas cannot back up thru the airbox (overflow), unless the floats/needles allow gas flow.

Ride safe, Ted

[KBing]

Thank you all for your responses. I'll definitely do the check per the video. I had already watched that but wondered if I needed to bother.